In life, people crave guidance. At some point, everyone needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another, while other turn to great forces of power, such as God. Many people live accordingly to the rules of God, and in turn are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God.
Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help. Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and rather religious. Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems. At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip. The entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife had recently died. After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death.
When Grandpa prays, “Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou” (99). Everyone stood shockingly, in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer. When he finishes singing the praises of his deceased wife, and asking for guidance for his new one, the crowd has a change of heart.
It was a strange thing that happened then. My mama went up to her pa and kissed him and, crying, hugged Miss Love, who, crying, hugged her back. My daddy kissed Miss Love on the cheek and then shook hands with Grandpa. Uncle Camp naturally did the same thing (100).
Slyly, Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd.
While Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train, he asks Grandpa if “[he is] alive [because] of God’s will” (97). Without fail, Grandpa responds with wise words. He tells Will that “God gave [him] a brain” (97). This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t deal with the everyday mumbo jumbo, only the things that are life altering. He believes that God doesn’t need to be there for us twenty-four hours a day, but will give us certain abilities that assist you when you need assistance.
Conclusively, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon.
From the very beginning of this story, it came to my attention that Granny continually repeats are "there's nothing wrong with me" and "that's for tomorrow.” This repetition, to me, shows two very important aspects about Granny Weatherall as a person – she’s stubborn and hardworking, yet procrastinates all the time. When she felt death come upon her on her bed that day, she wasn't expecting it. We know this because of the repetition of all that she needs to do and that she'll get it done tomorrow. At the same, who can blame her for not expecting it? I mean, who really expects to die every day they wake up? Sure, one knows they are going to die, but they don’t wake up planning it to happen that day. Aside from that, it stood out to me that Granny Weatherall didn’t fail to mention that she thought she was going to die once before during her sixties. From this near death experience, she somehow, in my opinion, allowed herself to think she was invisible and immortal simply because she managed to survive.
...ng the corpse and the grandma’s nephew switched from playing everyone’s “favorite tune” to playing an hymn that suits the situation.
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” a short story by Katherine Anne Porter, describes the last thoughts, feelings, and memories of an elderly woman. As Granny Weatherall’s life literally “flashes” before her eyes, the importance of the title of the story becomes obvious. Granny Weatherall has been in some way deceived or disappointed in every love relationship of her life. Her past lover George, husband John, daughter Cornelia, and God each did an injustice to Granny Weatherall. Granny faces her last moments of life with a mixture of strength, bitterness, and fear. Granny gained her strength from the people that she felt jilted by. George stood Granny up at the altar and it is never stated that she heard from him again. The pain forced Granny to be strong.
Faith is something that the author lacks as she only see 's herself as this defiant child. However, this changes as she realizes that she shares a special bond with her grandmother, rather than taking care of her for an obligation. In the very last scene, the author watches her grandmother as she slowly passes away and cries with “sobs emerging from the depths of anguish,” finally realizing that she actually had a very close relationship with her grandmother, developing a type of respect. The author had always felt her grandmother’s gray eyes watching over here, like a safety net, for every move she had made (Viramontes
When he talks to the men that call his car the "bastardmobile" what he 's thinking about doing they are all down on him and just tell him that hell never stick to his word. Grandpa relized that he was going to prove them wrong and he showed up at church Sunday morning and listened to the service and then after church service he then decided it was time for a true change around his house and junk yard. Once he goes to church and he realizes things he goes home cleans up his yard and removes all the junk vehicles and things. After he removes all of these things he then replace some of the things with kids stuff like a tire swing. He decides he wants to paint the porch and change the way things look for the grandkids. He wants his grandkids to change and show them how to live the right way in life.
The white institution of Christianity has been forced upon Tom since childhood to make him believe in the Puritanical tenet that individual suffering in life, guarantees a good tidings in death. Tom has been taught to read the Bible and believes that God will be with him everywhere he goes, even after he has been sold and separated from Aunt Chloe and the rest of his family. “I’m in the Lord’s hands,” said Tom; “nothin’ can go no furder than he lets it;--and thar’s one thing I can thank him for. It’s me that’s sold and going down, and you nur the chil’en. Here you’re safe; ---what comes will come only on me; and the Lord, he’ll help me,--I know he will,” (Stowe 81)...
I’m glad we have Maurice, my mother’s younger brother here today. Ella, her older sister, unfortunately couldn’t make it, but I know the news of my mothers death hit her hard. And I know that she prayed with all her will, for my mother.
The reader can visualize the opposing settings. The grandmother’s character is revealed in line 6 by the humming, “What A Friend We Have In Jesus” combined with the setting implies that the grandmother is a religious person that appreciates the calm country life. When the grandmother stops humming the granddaughter states in line 12 -15, “I could feel the soft gray of her stare against the side of my face when she asked, How’s school a-goin?”. The granddaughter, narrator, starts revealing her inner thoughts to the reader. There is a close relationship between the grandmother and the granddaughter as evident in line 20, “She reached the leather of her hand over the bowl and cupped my quivering chin…(Meyer pg. 324) The caring touch reveals the grandmother’s concern for her granddaughter’s well being, even the lyric of her humming suggests that Jesus will listen to ones deepest worries and fears. The granddaughter’s life lessons learned at the northern college are referenced in Line 19 as very strong like “..a swig of strychnine (Meyer pg. 324)”. In line 31, her “…friends wore noserings and wrote poetry about sex, about alcoholism, about Buddha (Meyer
On earth, God uses various religious leaders as instruments of His love and guidance—chaplains, counselors, pastors, and lay leaders. It is through these instruments that Jesus tells the grieving that it’s OK to cry. God is with you and will protect you. He is your counsel in your storm. We are not orphans. Instead, as Christians we belong to the family of Christ, who will comfort the afflicted.
Grandma embodies the initial faith of the book. Her faith is in the spiritual and her allegiance is to Jesus and God. Of all the characters in the book, Grandma has the least power. She is the only one who has lived through slavery and witnessed the change in history that took place after the Civil War. During slavery, she is not only materially oppressed through lack of power and material wealth, but also emotionally oppressed. Because of the oppressive society created by slavery, she has no control over her own life. The only way she can feel as if she has any power is to believe in a God. Her worship of God, therefore, becomes a representative power for her. She is empowered by the belief that she can at least count on God, if in nothing else. When she is escaping from the plantation she is against all odds, but she says that “And den de Good Lawd seen to it dat Ah wasn’t taken…But nothin’ never hurt me ’cause de La...
My sister Deborah always said our father would not go quietly into the night. How right she was. Dad fought up to the very end. Deb and I thought we had lost him the Sunday before Easter but he rallied once again. For too long I have wondered where he got his strength from, a man imprisoned in both mind and body. I believe he was ready to go; that Sunday night when I was told - once again - that he would not last the night, I told dad I was going home for a quick shower and that I would be right back. I didn't know if he could hear me or not. Twenty minutes after my return, dad quietly stopped breathing. I believe he was waiting for me to be by his side, as I promised him I would be.
Jamie is a Reverend’s daughter who stays to herself and loves acting. Whenever there was a good or bad event in Jamie’s life she would always refer is to “Gods plan”. Jamie has faith no matter what and as Landon look back at these specific details he notices how distant he was to his own religious beliefs. Landon does not have interest in religion, he simply think he attends church because he is supposed to. Landon was a teenager of a single parent home, his father married another woman which caused hatred towards his father. QUOTE Simply because of the hard ache within his own home, he personally he did not care. Yet in one scene of “A Walk to Remember” Landon says” that one must have faith, although he does not really know what he is talking about, and he knows that he does not, and he soon steers the conversation away from God and toward romance.” He stated this scripture because Jamie mention that sometimes the Lord plans are not always understood. As Landon looks back at his high school life, he thinks about not only his personal crisis but the one with Jamie and her battling cancer and
One day I got a call from my grandma in Ohio who had heard through my father that I was struggling. She was a very religious women and had called me to give me help. She said “Samuel you are a gift from god and you need to realize it”. This got my attention and began listening to her to hear what she had to say. She told me “Sammy god loves you and I know you don't think he cares, but I promise He will be there for you always.” I don't know way this got me but we immediately and a long conversation of god and religion. She got me thinking about how religion could help me and my situation. I wanted to learn more. My grandma and I had a very close relationship even though she lived all the way in Ohio. The next summer when I went to Cincinnati, the first person I wanted to see was my grandma so I could spend time with her and see how she was. I did not get to see her the first day, but I rode over with my dad we all talked. The day I saw her was Friday which meant the sabbath started at sun down. The sabbath is a rest from work, school work, and everyday life. It starts Friday night then we go to church from sunrise to
God should read this to see how magical his powers are, how family and faith can bind together
Family : My Grandmother Mildred truly defined the word family as I have come to learn and live it. Holidays and family gatherings were the celebrations they were because they were surrounded by Grandma’s love. I watched family such as my late uncle Reginald become the amazing family man he was because of traditions instilled by his mother. I have also seen her daughter - my aunt Milinda – raise three beautiful children by the love and traditions passed down from Grandma. I, of course, owe most of who I am from Grandma’s love passed down through my own mother Rayetta and her husband George, whom Grandma so highly regarded.